The Christmas Invasion Novelisation
by Josman
Summary: Christmas day, and the world gets visited by a race bent on enslaving the human race. Meanwhile, the new Doctor is in bed regenerating as fast as he possibly can. But will he be healthy enough to save the Earth in time?
1. Born Again

**Disclaimer: I asked Santa if I could own Doctor Who for Christmas. He pointed out that I was writing in September, so that idea's out the window.**

**The Christmas Invasion**

**Chapter 1: Born Again**

Rose was increasingly baffled by what was going on. Her memories of the time since she'd opened up the heart of the TARDIS consisted of a mass of vague colours and shapes. She'd just woken up on the floor of the TARDIS but found the Doctor talking even less sense than usual. Before she could bring the conversation around to what had happened and where were the Daleks, he'd hunched over in agony and told her he was dying, but it would all be OK. Seconds later, a golden light had enveloped him. When it faded, a completely different face was stood there.

She watched, peering round a pillar, as the strange man went over to the console and fiddled with the controls. It was clear he knew just what he was doing.

"12:30 PM. 21st of September. 5006. On our way to Barcelona." He grinned, before turning to her "So? How do I look?" Rose babbled in surprise. "No no no. Don't tell me. He ran his hands over his body like a very weird exotic dancer. "Two legs, two arms..." He frowned as he rotated his wrist. "Slight weakness in the dorsal fibula. But I can adjust." He ran his hand over his head. "Hair! Not bald. Ooh, lots of hair. And sideburns, I've got sideburns!" At this point, he seemed to notice that the Doctor's clothes were a bit loose fitting on him. "Little bit thinner. That'll take some getting used to." His hands found something else interesting. "I... have got... a mole. Right between my shoulder blades, there's a mole. That's alright. Love the mole. Go on then, what do you think?"

Rose had slid further behind the pillar. "Who are you?" She said at last.

The man frowned. "I'm the Doctor."

"No. Where is he? What have you done to him?"

"You saw me. I changed."

Rose wasn't falling for that. "No. I saw him. There was this big light, like a teleport. Or a transmat. Or a body swap or something. You've even had time to gell your hair before you came!" She stepped forward in a hopeful effort to look tough. "You're not fooling me. I've seen all sorts of things. Nanogenes. Gelth. Slitheen. Oh my God, are you Slitheen?"

"I'm not a Slitheen." He said simply.

"Well... Whatever you are... I'm warning you. Send the Doctor back, right now!"

"Rose. It's me. I was dying, so to save my life, I had to change. Every cell in my body. I look different but it's still me." He tried to put a reassuring hand on her shoulder but she shrank away from him.

"But it can't be."

The man sighed. "Well then... How would I know this. When I first met you, down in that cellar, shop window dummies everywhere. I took your hand and I said just one word. Just one word. I said "Run."" He took her hand, just the way her Doctor would.

Rose looked him over. Somehow, she knew that only the Doctor could have said everything the way he said it. It was just hard to believe that he could spring something like this on her. But then, what wasn't possible these days? "Doctor?" She said.

"And we never stopped, did we?" The man, who seemingly was indeed the Doctor whipped his hand away and ran round the console, adjusting seemingly every other control. "Running. Right across the universe. Running, running, running. Or hopping. Do you remember. That one time we had to hop for our lives?"

Rose was just looking at him blankly. Even if he was the Doctor, she couldn't quite adjust to talking to a completely different face just yet. "Can you change back?"

"Do you want me to?"

"Yeah."

"Oh..." The Doctor hadn't been counting on that. "Well, I can't. Do you want to go home?" If she was finding this all a bit too much, it may be best to let her be somewhere familiar.

"Do you want me to?"

"Your choice." He took her silence as an answer. "Very well. Cancel Barcelona." He hit a series of levers on the console. "Change to London. The Powel Estate... Let's say 24th of December. Consider it a Christmas present."

Rose blinked several times. As far as she could see, this new Doctor was inviting her to leave. "We're going home?"

"They'll be waiting. Fish and chips. Sausage and mash. Oh no... Christmas. Roast turkey. Although... having met your mother... Nut loaf would be more appropriate." He was pleased when he saw a smile creep over Rose's face. "Was that a smile?"

"No." Said Rose.

"You smiled."

"No I didn't."

"Yes you did."

"Didn't."

"Oh come on, all I did was change. I didn't, vagh!" He wrenched over in pain.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, I said I didn't, bloooo!" He gasped and exhaled a small cloud of golden mist.

"Doctor... What's happening?"

"The regeneration's going wrong. Gahhh!"  
>"Maybe we should go back. Find Captain Jack. He'd know what to do..." Incidentally, she'd need to ask at some point why they'd left him behind.<p>

"Nah, he's busy. Got plenty to do, rebuilding the Earth." The Doctor said quickly. He noticed a switch on the side of the console. "Been a long time since I used this one." He flicked it and the floor lurched beneath them. "Now we can really open up the taps! He twisted several dials, pushing half the components in the engines deep into their their safety margin. "Come on, you can do it, my little TARDIS! Let's rip through that vortex!"

"What are you doing!" Shouted Rose. "This can't be safe!"

"Nah, where's the fun in safety?" He laughed, throwing a lever, which increased the engine noise to a deafening roar. Then he hunched over the console in pain. "The regeneration's going wrong. I have to land soon." But then he shook it off. "Faster! Let's see what we can do!" He twisted some more regulators, causing the engines to roar even louder and a school bell to start ringing.

"What's that?" Cried Rose.

"Emergency alarm!"

"Great!"

"Faster!" He hit pulled a lever to open up the throttle a bit more.

"But you're gonna kill us!"

"Too late to stop it. Next stop, Christmas eve!"

Rose clung onto the console more tightly than ever. Not sure whether to try and help the Doctor or try to kill him.


	2. Home For Christmas

**Chapter 2: Home for Christmas**

Jackie Tyler looked sadly around her flat. The decorations were there and the Christmas specials were all playing on the telly. But it didn't feel like Christmas thanks to one important thing that was absent. Rose should have been there to help with the decorations. There should be a present from her under the tree. It had been six weeks since she'd disappeared to help the Doctor and she'd heard nothing from the girl.

* * *

><p>In a garage not far away, Mickey was replacing the spark plugs on the car in front of him. This would be his last job before he was due to head home for Christmas. As usual, he planned to spend Christmas in front of the telly with some Christmas themed ready meals. Perhaps drop in on Jackie for a bit if she was on her own.<p>

Just then he heard a new sound and quickly called for his friend to turn off _Merry Xmas Everybody_ so he could have a better listen. Sure enough, once Slade had gone silent, he clearly heard the sound of the TARDIS echoing from two streets over. He didn't even tell the others he was leaving, he just ran.

Mickey followed the sound onto the Powel estate. There. he found Jackie running over from the opposite end of the square and knew she must have heard it too.

"It's the Doctor, it's got to be him!" Shouted Mickey.

"Then she is alive! I said so, didn't I!" Jackie cried.

They met in the middle. The TARDIS engines were louder than usual. By all rights, they should be able to see it fading into view right next to them, so where was it?

From above them, they heard a zap and the TARDIS appeared over their heads in a blue flash. Mickey and Jackie screamed and scrambled for the wall, while the blue box descended in a manner similar to a crash landing aircraft, bouncing off several walls and crossing the path of a post van, before tearing up several paving slabs as it came crashing to a halt.

Upon seeing all this, the post man phoned his boss to say he needed to go home early.

Jackie and Mickey rushed up to the door of the TARDIS. To their surprise, they were met by a tall skinny man they'd never seen before, but who dressed like the Doctor.

"Here we are then." He laughed... "The Powell Estate, Earth, the solar system. I did it!" Spotting the two of them, he put a hand on each of their shoulders. "Jackie! And Mickey! How've you been? No... There's something I need to say, something important, what is it? Oh! I know. Merry Christmas!" He laughed once more then fainted to the ground.

Rose followed him out. "What happened? Is he ok?"

"I don't know, he just, sort of, keeled over." Said Mickey.

"Who is he, where's the Doctor?" Said Jackie.

"That's him." Said Rose, nodding to the man on the ground. "That's the Doctor."

"How could he be the Doctor?" Said Jackie. "Doctor Who?"

* * *

><p>A confused explanation from Rose later, they'd moved the Doctor up to the Tylers' flat, pulled some pyjamas over him and put him in the spare bed to rest. Rose was watching him, feeling more out of her depth than ever before. Until then, no matter how weird things got, she'd always had the Doctor around to reassure her that at least he knew what he was doing. But now the Doctor just seemed... broken and she had no idea how this would sort itself out.<p>

Her mother returned from a flat two floors below. "Sarah the cleaner's got this lodger, medical student. She's out so I just borrowed this." She handed Rose a stethoscope. "But I still think we should take him to hospital."

"We can't." Said Rose. "They'd lock him up and dissect him. One drop of his blood could change the human race."

"But..."

"No buts, mum." She held the stethoscope up to his chest them slid it over to the other side. "Good, both working." Satisfied, she went to give the Doctor some space.

"Both what working?" Said Jackie.

"He's got two hearts."

"Don't be daft."

"He has."

Jackie thought for a moment. "Anything else he's got two of?"

"Leave him alone mum!"

Jackie sighed and followed her daughter out. Neither of them were there to spot another puff of golden mist emitting from the Doctor's mouth, nor watch as it drifted out the window and up into space, setting off a beacon for passing aliens.

Rose's lack of answers wasn't putting Jackie off. "How can he change his face?" She said. "Is it a different face or is he a different person?"

"How should I know?" Rose snapped, before taking a breath. "Sorry. It's just... I thought I knew him mum. But then he does this. I keep forgetting he's not human." Tears were forming round her eyes. Rose decided to change the subject. "But anyway. The big question is, where did you get a set of men's pyjamas from?"

Jackie went to put the kettle on. "Howard's been staying over."

Rose raised an eyebrow. "What? Howard from the market? How long's that been going on?"

"A month or so. First of all he starts delivering to the door, and I think "That's odd." Next thing..."

But Rose was distracted by something on the TV. "Is that Harriet Jones?"

"Oh, never mind me." Jackie sighed.

"What's she doing on the telly?"

"Prime minister now. I'm 18 quid a week better off. They're calling it Britain's golden age. I keep saying my Rose has met her."

"Did more than that." Rose grinned. "Stopped world war 3 with her."

On the screen, Harriet Jones was stood on a podium, addressing a select group of members of the press.

"Prime minister." One of them put his hand up. "What do you say to those calling the Guinevere 1 space probe a waste of money?"

Harriet frowned. "Now that's where you're wrong. The probe represents this country's limitless ambition and potential. British workmanship sailing up there amongst the stars."

The coverage then cut to another conference, where a man whom Rose didn't recognise but the infotext identified as Doctor Llewellyn was making a speech of his own. "This is the spirit of Christmas. Birth and rejoicing and the dawn of a new age. And that is what we are achieving. Our own miracle is happening 50 million miles away."

The image cut to a CGI shot of the probe flying away from Earth, travelling across space to swing round the back of Mars, before coming to rest on its surface.

* * *

><p>In a room a few floors up from Llewellyn's conference, a room full of technicians watched their computer readouts anxiously. As the probe swung behind Mars, all the readouts would go blank until it emerged from the other side hours later. The thing was, on roughly half the probes ever sent to Mars, the readouts would never come back and they would discover that millions of pounds had been spent on nothing.<p>

Seeing the readouts go blank, the scientists and engineers settled in for a long wait.

* * *

><p>Round the far side of Mars, things were going wrong in a way that none of them could have predicted. The probe, sailing forward, abruptly hit a massive obstruction and stopped dead. Seconds later, a panel on the obstruction opened up and sucked the probe inside.<p>

* * *

><p>Her mum had insisted that she needed to get out the house for a bit, and Rose had realised that she needed to get presents anyway so they'd gone into town to look.<p>

It was a merry scene in town, with thousands of others rushing here and there, trying to find something at the last minute. The lights were twinkling all around, and a band of trumpeters in Santa masks were playing _God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen_ to add to the spirit.

"What do you need, 20 quid?" Said Mickey.

"Yeah, thanks, I'll pay you back." Said Rose, though she wasn't sure how. "Wow. You just forget about Christmas when you're in the TARDIS. You just sort of become, timeless."

"Yeah," Mickey groaned. "'cos I love hearing stories about the TARDIS."

"Shut up." She laughed.

"Tell us more TARDIS stories, Rose. "There was one time, when the TARDIS landed in this big yellow garden, with balloons everywhere.""

"I am not like that!"

"Yeah, you are."

"Must drive you mad. I'm surprised you don't give up on me." She grinned.

"Yeah, well that's me. You can rely on me. I don't go changing my face."

"Yeah... What if he's dying?"

Mickey sighed. "Look, do we have to talk about that? Can't we just have a normal night? Just you, me, no Doctor, no TARDIS, no bog monsters. Can't it just be Christmas? Could you do that for me?"

"Yeah, alright." She said.

"Good, now what you gonna get for your mum?"

Rose wasn't sure. She hadn't had much chance to ask her what she wanted. She supposed she could just look round the market stalls and see if there was anything her mum might like.

"I'm round there all the time now, you know." Mickey was saying. "She does my dinner on a Sunday, talks about you all afternoon, yap yap yap."

As Rose was looking at a stall displaying exotic teas, wondering if her mum might like any of them, she heard the Santa band's song coming to an end, and glanced over at them. She kept looking for a while, sensing something off about them. Seconds later, her senses were proved accurate when one of them lowered his trumpet and a jet of flame shot from the end.

The previously peaceful market scene promptly erupted into chaos as everyone scrambled for some sort of cover, Rose and Mickey included. It surprised them a little, but only a little, when the Santas turned to follow them, clearly singling them out from the whole crowd.

Rose and Mickey hurried down the line of market stalls, keeping low to keep out of sight. The Santas fired anyway but whatever they were firing didn't seem to be that strong, stopping dead when it met the wooden stalls.

Looking up briefly, Mickey spotted one of them stepping forward with a massive trombone, which he guessed constituted heavy artillery. At the last second, he rolled aside, just as what looked like a canon ball smashed through the stall, shot past him and took out the massive tree behind.

Rose and Mickey kept running as the tree toppled over, landing on one of the Santas and smashing it to a mass of robot parts.

"What've we done? Why're they after us?" Cried Mickey.

"Taxi!" Souted Rose, and leapt in before the driver had even stopped. "They're after the Doctor."

"I can't even go shopping with you without getting attacked by a brass band!"

Rose, hurriedly tapped at her phone, bringing up her mother's number.

* * *

><p>Unfortunately, Jackie was too busy talking to her friend. "She turns up, no warning. I've got nothing in. I said, Rose, if you want a Christmas dinner of meat paste, then so be it... Oh, no. Don't come round, darling. No, flat's all topsy turvy. Yeah, she just barges in and litters the place. Yeah. No, I'll come round and see you on Boxing day."<p>

* * *

><p>Finding the phone engaged again, Rose tried dialing again.<p>

"Those Santa-robot-things. Why were they after us?" Said Mickey.

"Think about it." Said Rose. "There's nothing important about us 'cept what we've got tucked up in bed. The Doctor."

* * *

><p>"Get off the phone!" Rose shouted as she burst through her front door.<p>

"It's only Bev." Said Jackie. "She says hello."

Rose took the phone. "Bev? Yeah. Look, it'll have to wait." She hung up and turned to her mother. "Right, it's not safe. We've got to get out. Where can we go?"

"My mate Stan, he'll put us up." Said Mickey.

"That's only two streets away. What about Mo? Where's she living now?"

"I don't know. Peak District." Said Jackie.

"Well, we'll go to cousin Mo's then."

"No, it's Christmas Eve! We're not going anywhere! What're you babbling about?"

"Mum..." She cut off as she spotted something else in the living room. Where'd you get that tree?"

Instead of the medium sized white tree that sat in the living room before, there was a large green one.

"That's a new tree." Said Rose. "Where'd you get it?"

"I thought it was you." Jackie shrugged.

"How can it be me?"

"Well, you went shopping. There was a ring at the door, and there it was!"

"No, that wasn't me."

"Then who was it?"

At this point, the lights on the tree came on their own. Then each tier of branches began to rotate of their own accord, spinning in opposite directions. Slowly at first, then faster and faster until it was shaking itself along the floor, smashing up Jackie's coffee table as it went, and advancing on all of them.


	3. Contact

**Chapter 3: Contact**

Mickey was starting to find things absurd. The first time he'd done any fighting, it had been with a bin. Now, he was suddenly up against a Christmas tree.

"Run!" He shouted at the others. He grabbed a chair and swung it at the tree, but the spinning branches whacked it out of his hands. He grabbed another and shoved it at the same spot in the hope of toppling the tree, or at least jamming... something. But the chair began to shatter as efficiently as if he'd fed it into a chipper.

Jackie, meanwhile, had run for the front door. To her alarm, Rose ran into the room on the right, shouting "We've got to get the Doctor!"

"Rose, get out!" She shouted back.

"We can't just leave him!"

Behind her, Mickey was barely holding two bits of wood in his hands, the tree had smashed through so much. "Mickey run!" She shouted.

Admitting defeat, Mickey ran for the door, but then veered to the right to help Rose, who was trying to lift the Doctor.

"Just leave him!" Shouted Jackie.

The tree was shaking itself forward, getting faster and faster. It was coming down the hallway for her now.

"Jackie get in here!" Shouted Mickey.

Jackie screamed and ran into the Doctor's room. It was too late to try to escape so she and Mickey shoved a wardrobe across the door, for all the good it would do.

"Doctor, wake up." Pleaded Rose.

The wardrobe began to vibrate badly, even as Jackie and Mickey threw their full weight against it.

Rose grabbed the sonic screwdriver and shoved it into the unconscious Doctor's hand.

Feeling the wardrobe on its last legs, Jackie and Mickey leapt back as the tree burst through, showering the room with splinters and torn clothes.

"I'm gonna get killed by a Christmas tree!" Jackie wailed.

Rose whispered in the Doctor's ear, "Save me."

Almost instantaneously, the Doctor sat up and soniced the tree, which promptly disintegrated.

"Remote control." Said the Doctor. "But who's controlling it?" Suddenly looking a lot more stable than before, he got up from bed, drawing a dressing gown round himself.

They followed the Doctor out, onto the walkway. Below, the three remaining Santas were stood, one of them holding a remote control.

"That's them." Said Mickey. "What are they?"

The Doctor didn't answer, he just raised his sonic screwdriver at them. Not pressing any buttons, just holding it. The robots immediately backed away. before teleporting out.

"Not much good if a sonic screwdriver's gonna scare 'em off." Mickey laughed.

"Pilot fish." Said the Doctor.

"What?" Said Rose. Those things certainly weren't fish.

"They were just pilot fish." The Doctor said. Something in the way he said it told them that they were not in the clear just yet. But before he could elaborate, he collapsed in pain again.

"You woke me up too soon." He gasped and another mouthful of golden light burst out. "I'm still regenerating. Bursting with energy. The pilot fish can smell it a mile off. They grab me when I'm down and cart me off. They can run their batteries off me for a couple of yearhhhhhhhhhhhh! My head! I'm having a neuron implosion! I need..." He gasped.

"What do you need?" Jackie scrambled to his side.

"I need..."

"Say it. Tell me, tell me, tell me!"

"I need..."

"Painkillers?"

"I need..."

"Do you need aspirin?"

"I need..."

"Codeine? Paracetamol? Oh, I don't know, Pepto-Bismol?"

"I need..."

"Liquid paraffin. Vitamin C? Vitamin D? Vitamin E?"

"I need..."

"Is it food? Something simple. Bowl of soup. A nice bowl of soup? Soup and a sandwich? Soup and a little ham sandwich?"

"I need you to shut up!" He snapped.

"Oh, hasn't changed that much then."

The Doctor gasped. "Brain... collapsing. Not much time. If we're getting pilot fish then... Why's there an apple in my dressing gown?"

"Oh that's Howard." Said Jackie.

"He keeps apples in his dressing gown?"

"He gets hungry."

"He gets hungry in his sleep?"

"...Sometimes."

The Doctor wrenched over in pain once more. He grabbed Rose's shoulders for support. "If we're getting pilot fish... It means something... something... something's coming."

And with that, he passed out once more.

* * *

><p>When they'd laid him in the bed before, he'd been sleeping peacefully. Now he was constantly groaning and twitching, like a man in the grip of nightmares.<p>

"Jackie, I'm using the phone line, is that alright?" Said Mickey, as he plugged his laptop in.

"Alright. But keep account of it." She turned to Rose. "Midnight. Christmas day. Any change?"

Rose shook her head. "Just one heart beating."

She sat down to watch the telly, which had been left running while all this was happening.

"Scientists working on the Guinevere 1 space probe are pleased to announce that they've re-established contact. The probe is due to display the first images from the surface of Mars shortly." Said the newsreader.

Back on the press podium, doctor Llewellyn was looking much more shaken than he had when they'd last seen him. But he struggled to maintain his composure. "Yes, we are. We're, we're back on schedule. We've received the signal from Guinevere One. The Mars landing would seem to be an unqualified success."

"But is it true that you lost contact earlier tonight?" Said a reporter.

"Well, yes we had a bit of a scare. Guinevere seemed to fall off the scope. But it was just a blip. Only disappeared for a few seconds. She's fine now, absolutely fine. We'll be getting the first pictures transmitted back any second. If you'll excuse me, I must return to the control room."

"Here you go, pilot fish." Said Mickey. He beckoned Rose over to a video he'd found online of some sea creatures. "They're harmless. But see, the little fish swim alongside the big fish."

"What, like sharks?"

"Yeah, exactly. What the Doctor's saying is, we got them. Now we get that." He pointed at a shark as it swallowed a clump of fish in one bite. "Something's coming Rose. Something big."

"Something close?"

"No way of telling. But the pilot fish don't swim far from the daddy."

"Funny rocks those." Said Jackie, still glued to the TV.

The first flickery images from the probe were coming up on the screen. As the view cleared, they could see the vague outline of a figure. Suddenly, it came into focus and roared at them. It looked vaguely like a horse's scull, but more jagged, and with blank red eyes in the sockets.

* * *

><p>The control room at the British Rocket group's headquarters fell into stunned silence. All the time they'd been searching for life on Mars, none of them had really thought about what to do if they found it. It was a bit like going on an expedition to look for Bigfoot, only to discover that he's sitting on your sofa reading a magazine.<p>

Seconds later, all the phones started to ring and it occurred to them that all the world had seen it with them. Seen absolute proof of the existence of alien life. Anyone who could find their number was suddenly phoning up demanding answers they didn't have.

Luckily, they soon heard the sound of a convoy of vehicles rolling up outside. A squad of soldiers in red berets marched into the room and announced that they were taking charge and that everyone except Llewellyn was to immediately go home with pay.

Llewellyn himself was ushered into the back of a Jag, which sped through the streets of London, towards the car park in a section of the Tower of London which was closed to tourists. A man, who identified himself as Major Blake, greeted him and led him to a massive hall.

Taking a look around, the Welshman briefly forgot about the crisis as he saw the set up that UNIT had built there. When he'd joined the British Rocket Group, he'd been told that the equipment they were using was the finest outside of NASA. But now, apparently, UNIT had their own control room. Not only that, but their equipment was better than his. All that time he'd had to beg for funding and this was being built in secret.

"Mr Llewellyn?" Said the Major. "Through here."

He was led through into an antechamber, where he found a woman he'd never met before, but recognised instantly.

"Harriet Jones, Prime Minister." She waved her ID at him.

"Oh, well, yes, I know who you are." He said nervously. "I suppose I've spoiled your Christmas somewhat."

"Always busy. Now, we've put out a cover story, Alex had been handling it." She nodded to the man on her right.

"We've said it was a hoax. Students hijacking the signal. Prosthetic masks, that sort of thing."

"Alex is my right hand man." Said Harriet. "I'm not used to having a right hand man. I quite like it though." She smiled.

"I don't suppose there's any chance it could just be a hoax?" Said Llewellyn.

"If there was, we could all go home. I don't suppose anyone's offered you coffee?" To Llewellyn's surprise, she went to pour out a cup herself, whereas most people of her status would have directed an aide to do it for them. "The scans confirm that the signal is genuine. Though it's not a species we've encountered before."

"You speak about aliens as though they were matter of fact?"

She paused for a moment. "There's an act of Parliament banning my autobiography."

"Prime Minister." Said the Major. "We've found something." He led them all back to the main control room. "Miss Jacobs can explain."

"Hello, we've never properly been introduced." Said Harriet. "Harriet Jones, Prime Minister."

"Yes, I know who you are." Jacobs replied. "The transmission didn't come from the surface of Mars, it came from a point 5000 miles above it."

"In other words, they've got a spaceship and the probe's on board." Said Blake.

"So, they might not actually be Martians?" Llewellyn thought he should contribute something.

"Of course not. Martians look completely different." The Major said, as though it should be obvious. "We think the ship was in flight and they just came across the probe."

"And they're still moving." Said Jacobs. "Moving in towards us. We've got it on the Hubble array.

She pulled up a radar scan. To Llewellyn's continued amazement, UNIT appeared to have a detailed display of the entire solar system, complete with several planets and moons he'd never heard of. It also displayed a red dot for every ship and satellite in the vicinity. Jacobs zoomed in on a lone dot moving through the space between Mars and Earth. "They're moving fast."

"What was your first name?" Said Harriet, who liked to keep on first name terms.

"Sally. Sally Jacobs."

"Thank you Sally."

* * *

><p>Mickey was busy hacking into the files of the UNified Inteligence Taskforce. Recently renamed after it had left UN control, but wanted to keep the anocrym.<p>

"Rose, look at this." He beckoned her over. "I've got access to the military. They're tracking a spaceship. It's big, it's fast and it's coming this way."

"Coming for what?" She said. "The Doctor."

"Or for all of us."

As they spoke, the radar image flickered and faded out, to be replaced with an image of four aliens, similar to the one they'd seen before.

"Con suto con crotha. Con seetho ceth roll." Said their leader. "Darson Sycorax."

"Have you seen them before?" Said Mickey.

Rose shook her head.

* * *

><p>Back in the Tower of London, the aliens' image was now up on the big screen.<p>

"Quadrifibu quanrootsa. Quantofibusontoor!" The aliens continued. "Ooodacai. somaldasjack. Boozecai. Joo jan jeef zycoicoran."

"Translation software." Blake ordered.

"Right away sir." Said Alex.

"Deebolagar!" The creatures roared.

* * *

><p>"I don't understand it." Said Rose. "The TARDIS translates languages inside my head, all the time, wherever I am."<p>

"So why isn't it doing it now?" Said Mickey.

"Dunno. It must be the Doctor. It's like he's part of the circuit. And he's... broken."

* * *

><p>In the UNIT control room, everyone was working flat out, scanning, warning armed forces all over the world and trying to fend off anyone who managed to get their number. It was clear that none of them would be home for Christmas morning.<p>

"Maam." Said the Major. "I have the US president on the line, demanding that he take control of the situation."

Harriet frowned. "Tell the president, and please use these exact words, he's not my boss and he's certainly not turning this into a war."

"Yes Maam." Blake smiled.

Harriet went to talk to Alex. "Anything yet?"

Alex looked at the loading bar he'd been watching ticking over for the last 40 minutes. "Nothing yet. Translating an alien language is going to take time." Frankly it was amazing that they'd got it working at all. When UNIT had first starting deciphering alien languages, back when it was set up, it had taken three months just to translate "Hello, my name is Max." It was lucky that one of their scientists had identified a way to scan the frequency of the words used to identify probable intent. That had finaly given them the starting point they needed to automate the translation software. But it was still in its infancy.

"How far off is the ship?" Said Harriet.

"About five hours."

* * *

><p>UNIT had done their best to keep things quiet, but it was becoming apparent to the press and the public that something was up. Sadly, there is no way to put a planet's armed forces on red alert discretely. It was clear to all concerned that it would be a very long night.<p>

* * *

><p>It was 3 in the morning, but few on the UNIT operatives would be sleeping. But nor was there anything more they could do. Just sit and silently watch the RADAR display creeping ever closer to the circle representing Earth.<p>

Harriet showed no signs of tiredness, as she approached the Major, who hurriedly stood up from his slumbered position. "I don't suppose we've had a code 9? No sign of the Doctor?"

"Not yet Maam. You've met him, haven't you? He's the stuff of legend." Harriet just nodded. Blake had never met the Doctor himself, but some of the older UNIT veterans had told him about him. Each seemed in awe of the man.

"But failing him," said Harriet, "what about Torchwood?"

Blake went wide eyed, her knowledge of the Doctor was a little surprising. Her knowledge of Torchwood was outright alarming.

"Yes, I know I'm not supposed to know about them, not even the United Nations know. But if there ever was a need for Torchwood, it's now."

"Maam, I... Can't take responsibility."

"I can. See to it. Get them ready."

Reluctantly, Blake went to make some phone calls.

"Prime Minister." Said Alex, carrying his laptop over.

"Has it worked?" She said.

"Just about." He read off the screen. "_People._ That could be _cattle_. _You belong to us. To the Sycorax. _They seem to be called Sycorax, not Martians_. We own you. We now possess your land, your minerals, your precious stones. You will surrender or they will die. Sycorax strong, Sycorax mighty, Sycorax rock,_ as in the modern sense, they rock."

Harriet and her entourage were silent for a moment, staring at the message. Llewellyn was the first to speak, having spotted something. "They said _they_ will die. Not you, they. What does that mean?"

"I don't know, but it's the correct personal pronoun. It's "they."" The experts had been very proud of that bit.

"Can you send a reply?" Said Harriet.

"Yes maam." Said Blake.

"Then tell them, this is a day of peace on our planet and we extend that offer of friendship to them. Then tell them, this planet is armed and we do not surrender!"

* * *

><p>Christmas morning broke over London, but there was no merriment to be had in the Tylers' flat. They'd spent most of the night alternating between checking UNIT's operations and checking the Doctor. Though he'd stopped tossing and groaning, he was no closer to full health than the night before. They'd all been left to their own devices as the aliens closed in for the kill.<p>

"The old Doctor wouldn't do this." Said Rose. "He'd wake up. He'd save us."

"You really love him, don't you?" Said Mickey.

Rose didn't answer. She just sobbed and leaned over for a hug.

* * *

><p>"Got another message maam." Said Sally.<p>

"Put it up." Said Harriet.

"This should be their response."

The image of the Sycorax came up on the big screen once more. This time, they didn't say anything, their leader just raised his hand, which crackled and pulsed blue waves. He snarled at the human race, before the image cut.

"What was that?" Said Harriet. "Was it a reply?"

"It looked like some sort of energy. Or static?" Alex offered.

"Almost like someone casting a spell. Could be some new form of communication. A pictogram or something." Llewellyn suggested.

However, as he was talking, Sally abruptly pushed past him. They all looked over to see her face completely blank, while her head flashed with the same blue light that had engulfed the Sycorax's gauntlet. All over the room, operatives were standing up from their desks and marching robotically towards the door.

"Sally what are you doing?" Said Llewellyn. But she didn't respond, or even notice him. He tried to grab her but Harriet instructed him not to for fear of hurting her.

As the controlled people reached the doors, some guards who were unaffected tried to bar their way.

"Let them through." The Major ordered.

* * *

><p>Rose heard a voice through her front door. "Jason? Stop this Jason."<p>

She stepped outside and found Sandra from the flat next door, following her husband along the balcony.

"He won't stop." Sandra said. "He just keeps on walking. Jason, come on now. This isn't funny!"

Rose looked out over the balcony. Below, hundreds of others in a similarly hypnotic state were trooping out of their homes, while friends and family darted between them, pleading to know what they were doing.

* * *

><p>It wasn't just in London, it was all over the world. Millions of people abruptly dropped whatever they were doing and marched off together. It was only certain people that the Sycorax were affecting, but the others were powerless to stop them as they wouldn't respond to pleas and they shoved aside anyone who stood in their way. Some tried to tie up their loved ones to stop them going, but they strained so hard at their bounds that humanity would compel them to let them go.<p>

One rather alarming detail soon became clear. The controlled people were heading upwards. Up any high rise building they could find. Office blocks, church steeples or just really tall trees.

* * *

><p>Llewellyn had followed Sally up to the roof of the Tower of London, talking to her all the way. "Sally Jacobs, listen to me. You're being controlled. You have to fight it. We need you!" He looked around at the crowd of people, heading right for the edge and paled. "They're going to jump!"<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes: In the Pertwee era, Britain had an improbably advanced space programme, which was never given a name but there's a reference to The British Rocket group in Remembrance of the Daleks. I personally assume that the programme stalled at some point, but then got picked up shortly before this eppisode. Hence why the probe is still national news.<strong>


	4. Helpless

**Chapter 4: Helpless**

The people advanced forward, right to the edge. Here, to the partial relief of all watching, they stopped.

On rooftops all over the world, billions of people stood in a line. In Paris, crowds had gathered on the Eifel Tower. In San Francisco, they'd massed on the Golden Gate Bridge. In the Arctic circle, groups of Inuit, out of contact with civilisation, were circling around in search of anything that wasn't flat.

* * *

><p>"The reports say it's roughly 2 billion people." Said the Major. "That's a third of the world's population."<p>

"Surrender or they will die." Llewellyn repeated. Now they knew what that meant.

"Hold on!" Alex put his finger to his ear. "There's a pattern. It seems to be distinct family groups. Mothers and daughters. Fathers and sons. Brothers and sisters. But not husbands and wives."

"It's Guinevere 1." Said Llewellyn, as though that explained everything. "Do you have medical records for all of your staff?"

"Of course." Said Alex.

As he looked them up, Harriet took the Major aside. "Any word from Torchwood?"

"They say they'll take a while. Bear in mind, they have just lost a third of their staff." He replied.

"But do they have what we need?"

He struggled for a moment. "Yes maam.

"Then tell them to hurry up!"

"Here it is." Llewellyn beckoned them over to his screen, where Sally's medical records were on display. "Sally Jacobs, blood group A positive." He read. "Who else walked out?"

"Luke Parsons." Alex read off the nearest empty desk.

Llewellyn hit some keys. "Luke Parsons, A positive. Who else?"

"Geoffrey Baxter."

"A positive. They're all A positive."

"How many people in the world are A positive?" Said the Major.

"I don't know. But I'm pretty sure it's a third."

"But what's so special about the blood group?"

Llewellyn looked down at his feet. "Nothing. But it's all my fault. Guinevere 1, it's got one of those plaques on it. A message to the stars. You don't expect anything to come of it, but I put on maps, and music, and samples. Wheat seeds, and water... and blood. A positive, from my assistant. The Sycorax have got a sample of A positive blood. And I don't know how, but through it..."

"They control the blood." Harriet finished. "There's only one more thing I can try. Major, with me."

* * *

><p>From the balcony of their tower block, Rose and Mickey looked around at the crowds assembled on the surrounding rooftops. "What do we do?" Said Mickey.<p>

"Nothing." Said Rose. "Nothing we can do. There's no-one coming to save us. He's just left us."

"Rose!" Her mum called. "Look at this!"

They returned to the living room, where Jackie beckoned them over to the telly. On screen, Harriet Jones was sat in a panelled room, with union flags on either side and a picture of the queen on the table.

"Ladies and gentlemen," she began sombrely, "if I may take a moment in this difficult hour. This is hardly the queen's speech. I'm afraid that's been cancelled." She turned to the side. "Did we ask about the royal family? Oh." She turned back to her audience. "They're on the roof. But, ladies and gentlemen, this crisis is unique, and I'm afraid to say, it might get much worse. I would ask you all to remain calm. But I have one request. Doctor, if you're out there, we need you. I don't know what to do. If you can hear me, Doctor. If anyone knows the Doctor, if anyone can find him, the situation has never been more desperate. Help us. Please, Doctor. Help us. God help us."

Rose returned to the Doctor's room, where the time lord continued to lie still. Somehow, she'd thought that this latest plea would provide some energy for him to get up and help. But he continued to lie there and do nothing. It was finally enough to make her break down and cry.

"He's gone." She sobbed, as her mother took her in her arms. "The Doctor's left me."

As if to rub salt in the wound, every window and every glass mug in the flat shattered into a million pieces.

* * *

><p>The Sycorax had hit the atmosphere faster than they should. A massive sonic boom rippled out in all directions, shattering anything brittle enough it hit. Across the city, the Gherkin appeared to explode like a flowering bud. Everybody around doubled over, clutching their ears. Only those stood on the rooftops remained still.<p>

More and more people were streaming out into the streets to see what was going on. They had a perfect view as a massive silhouette appeared on the clouds, getting bigger and bigger. Finally, the clouds were washed aside and the ship broke through.

Were it not roaring and hovering just above the London Eye, it wouldn't have looked like a ship at all. What it did resemble was a massive flying rocky island. A massive flying rock bearing down on the houses of Parliament.

* * *

><p>"Come on." Said Rose. "Help me get him out of here."<p>

"And go where?" Said Mickey.

"The TARDIS."

"What are you planning to do once you get there?" Said Jackie.

"Hide."

"What? You're just gonna run?" Said Jackie. To everyone's surprise, she actually felt appalled by the idea. Just a few months ago, she'd have welcomed the opportunity to get her daughter out of harm's way.

"Well what else can I do?" Cried Rose. "'cos I've been up in space and I've seen all kinds of things. But when I'm stuck at home, I'm useless. Now there's a massive spaceship up there and right now the TARDIS may be the only safe place. So all we can do is run, and hide, and I'm sorry but that's the way it is. So move."

* * *

><p>Back in the Tower of London, all eyes turned back to the main screen, where the Sycorax were transmitting a new message. "Sorcorz codgi belidigcor. Bordo belomni." Said their leader.<p>

"Will the leader of this world stand forward." Alex translated.

Harriet did so. "I'm proud to represent this planet."

"Soocol beloxi." Said the leader.

"Come aboard."

Harriet raised both eyebrows. "Well how am I supposed to do that?"

The Sycorax responded by raising his hand and emitting another spell-like glow. Harriet, Alex, Llewellyn and the Major all felt the same glow envelop them.

"What's happening?" Said Llewellyn.

"I believe it's called a teleport." Harriet replied.

UNIT headquarters faded around them, to be replaced with a massive rocky cavern. Had they not known they were inside the spaceship, the would have assumed this was the home of some underground cult. Bare flame torches and cloth banners hung from the walls, along with some dangling cages containing skeletons. Even the controls buttons were largely stone.

The Sycorax chief stepped forward and raised his hands to his face, which he began to lift off.

"It's a helmet!" Gasped Llewellyn. "They may be like us!"

To his disappointment, the face beneath the helmet looked like it would perfectly fit the covering. It was just a lot more fleshy than the mask.

"Shoran val cosh da cosh nectar." Said the leader, hovering his hand over a big red button. They didn't need to ask what it would do.

"You will surrender. Or I will release the final curse." Said Alex. "And your people will... jump."

"Let me speak to him." Said Llewellyn.

The Major grabbed his arm. "Mr Llewellyn, you're a civilian."

"No!" He snatched his arm away. "I sent up the probe, this is my responsibility." He stepped up to the alien. "With respect, sir, the human race is just taking its first steps among the stars. But we are like children compared to you. Children who need help. Children who need compassion. And I beg of you. Please extend that compassion."

The leader tilted his head, then pulled a whip from his side, crackling with electricity. Before Llewellyn had time to respond, he whipped it so that it caught Llewellyn round the neck. He screamed in agony and flashed white hot for a few seconds. Then the light faded and there was nothing left of him but dust, a skeleton, and a wafting smell of charred flesh.

"That man was your prisoner!" Shouted Blake. "Even your species must have articles of war, forbidding..."

The leader whipped the Major too. Within seconds, his boned dropped into a pile alongside the first.

Alex took a step forward, but Harriet held up a hand to stop him. Instead, she took a deep breath, pulled out her ID and stepped forward. "Harriet Jones, Prime Minister."

"Traa. Quaravita quash."

"H-he says. "Yes I know who y-you are."" Stammered Alex, who was having trouble taking his eye off the bones.

"Jaran jal quachie."

"Surrender or they will die."

"And if I do surrender, how will that be better?" Said Harriet.

Alex watched more words appearing on his translator. "One half is sold into slavery or one third dies... Your choice."

* * *

><p>Rose and Mickey carried the Doctor through the TARDIS doors between them. Jackie followed behind, with as many food bags as she could carry. The Doctor, Rose had informed her, was surprisingly bad at keeping his kitchen stocked.<p>

"Don't suppose there's any chance you could fly this thing?" Said Mickey.

"None." Said Rose.

"But you did before."

"It's all been wiped from my head, like it's forbidden. I think if I try it again, the whole universe rips in two or something." She wasn't sure how she knew that. It just seemed to have been left behind when the TARDIS energy left her head.

"So we just sit here then." Mickey sighed.

"That's about it!" She threw her arms up. "Sit and hide and wait for the world to end."

"I've got some tea." Jackie poured a cup from a thermos flask.

Rose rolled her eyes. "The solution to everything."

"Now stop your moaning." Said Jackie. "I'll get the rest of the food." She rushed down the ramp and out the door.

"Tea." Mickey chuckled. "Like we're having a picnic while the world comes to an end! Very British."

Rose just slumped against the console. Clearly, she wasn't in a joking mood.

Mickey looked round for something to break the awkward silence. He found the TARDIS scanner. "How's this thing work? If it picks up TV, maybie we can see what's going on. Maybe we've surrendered." He pressed a random collection of buttons and dials around the screen. "How do you turn it on?"

"I don't know, it sort of tunes itself." Rose pressed some buttons herself, to the tune of a series of bleeps and rings from the console.

* * *

><p>Those same bleeps and rings could be heard from the Sycorax ship. The leader looked around wildly, shouting to all assembled.<p>

"He says it's foreign machinery." Said Alex. "They're accusing us of hiding machinery. He says bring it on board."

* * *

><p>Jackie Tyler made her way back to the TARDIS, her arms laden with several more bags of food. She dropped them to the ground and watched in horror as a blue light enveloped the Police Box. The TARDIS faded to a blue blur, shooting upwards towards the spaceship.<p>

* * *

><p>Mickey looked at a collection of circle arrangements, orbiting each other and within themselves on the screen. He pressed another button and 11 of the orbits changed direction, three stopped entirely, and 22 circles moved to a new orbit, with 5 circles dropping off the screen and 7 replacing them.<p>

"Could be a distress signal?" He said, as he poured himself some tea.

"Fat lot of good that is." Said Rose.

"Are you going to be a misery all the time?"

"Er... Yeah."

Mickey laughed. "You should look at it from my point of view. Stuck in here for the rest of my life with your mum's cooking."

It occurred to Rose that her mum had been gone for a while. "Actually, where is she? I'd better help. It might start raining missiles out there."

"Tell her anything from a tin." Mickey said as she made her way down the ramp.

"Tell her yourself." Said Rose.

"I'm not that brave."

"Ya realy think that?" Rose grinned, as she pulled the door open.

No sooner had she stepped outside when a tough hand grabbed her by the arm. "Let go of me!" She whacked at it, but another Sycorax grabbed her other arm.

"Rose!" Shouted Mickey, dropping his tea and running to help. He was amazed to find that the Powell estate he had expected had been replaced by the main hall of the Sycorax ship. For a moment, the aliens were busy with Rose, but they soon came after him.

"Shut the door!" Shouted Rose.

Mickey made a bolt for the TARDIS, but was grabbed just before he could make it. He did, however, get hold of the handle before they dragged him away and yanked the door shut, auto locking to keep those creatures out.

Back on the floor of the TARDIS, the tea flask spilled through the grating. The liquid trickled downwards until it ran over the secondary quantum heat sink. The device sparked and fizzed but there wasn't enough tea to do serious damage. It did boil the tea to vapour, producing a cloud of mist which wafted over the Doctor's unconscious form. He inhaled it through his nostrils and let out another puff of golden light.

* * *

><p>Rose and Mickey had quickly stopped struggling as they were led over to another two human figures.<p>

"Rose!" Cried Harriet, hugging the girl. "Is the Doctor with you?"

Rose shook her head. "No. We're on our own."

"Bosh shicrovich. Del bo dath back sacroya." Said the leader. "Quall sobrah, quaventis."

"The yellow girl." Alex read. "She has the clever blue box. Therefore, she speaks for your planet."

"But she can't!" Said Harriet.

"Yeah Ok." Said Rose.

"Don't you dare." Said Mickey.

"Someone's got to be the Doctor."

"But they'll kill you." Said Harriet.

"Never stopped him."

Rose stepped forward and felt every one of the assembled Sycorax turning to stare at her. She gulped. It was one thing running away from hordes of aliens. Attempting to appear strong and awe inspiring to them was another matter entirely. "I, er, I address the Sycorax according to Article Fifteen of the Shadow Proclamation." The leader looked confused. She hoped that article 15 didn't contain traffic regulations or something. She pushed on anyway. "I command you to leave this world with all the authority of... the Slitheen Parliament of Raxacoricofallapatorius, and er, the Gelth Confederacy as er, sanctioned by the Mighty Jagrafess and... oh, the Daleks! Now, leave this planet in peace! In peace."

The assembled Sycorax were silent for a few moments then burst out laughing. "Shoo gun, gun rach thitho!" Chortled their leader.

"You are verry very funny." Said Alex. More words appeared on his screen as the leader kept talking. "And now you're going to die."

"Leave her alone!" Harriet and Mickey rushed forward, but several more guards stepped in to hold them in place. Rose stood her ground, trying her hardest to respond to death threats like the Doctor.

"Shool gash sash vinno?" Said the leader.

"Do you think you are clever?" Said Alex. "With your stolen words."

"Quara fasie! Quasora!"

"We are the Sycorax!"

"Sel velisth servoth!" He spat in her face. Rose's resolve broke and she strained to get away.

"We astride the darkness."

"Belacollot, beldarla."

"Next to us, you are but a wailing child."

"Eeel bel shash val shoth they."

"If you are the best your planet can offer as a champion,"

"then your planet will be gutted."

"Then your planet will be gutted."  
>"And your people enslaved."<p>

"And your people enslaved." Alex looked up. "Hold on, that's English!"

"He's speaking English!" Cried Harriet.

"You're speaking English." Said Rose.

"Ha! I would never dirty my tongue with your primitive bile!" The leader snarled.

"But that's English." Said Rose. "Can you lot hear English?"

"Yeah, English." Said Mickey.

"Definitely English." Said Alex, who felt he should say something at this point.

The leader was furious. "I speak only Sycoraxix!"

Rose gasped. "Then if I can hear English, that means it's being translated. That means it's working. Which means..." She didn't bother to finish her sentence. She just turned to face the TARDIS. The other three followed suit.

The twin door of the Police Box swung open, to reveal the Doctor standing tall in the doorway. "Did you miss me?"


	5. The New Doctor

**Chapter 5: The New Doctor**

The Sycorax leader swung his electro whip at him, but the Doctor easily stepped aside and let it discharge against the floor. He then grabbed it and pulled it from the Leader's grip before he could draw it back.

The leader growled in frustration and went to whack the Doctor with his wooden staff. The Doctor easily dodged aside and karate chopped the thing in two.

"Just can't get the staff." He quipped. "Now _you_, just wait. I'm busy." He turned away from the creature that had so rudely interrupted and spoke to his companions. "Mickey! Hello. And Harriet Jones. I didn't know I was well off. Blimey, this is like _This Is Your Life_. Tea! That was all I needed. Soft infusion of free radicals and tannin. Just the thing for heating the synapses. Now. Rose." He gave her a more serious look. "Be honest. How do I look?"

"Um, different."

"Good different or bad different?"

"Just... Different."

"But am I... ginger."

"No. You're sort of... brown."

"Aw. I've never been ginger. I've always wanted to be ginger. And YOU, Rose Tyler, fat lot of good you were, you gave up on me!" He paused as he realised something. "Ooh, that's rude. I'm rude now apparently! Rude and not ginger?"

Throughout this exchange, Harriet had been watching with a sense of bemusement. Alex had also been bemused. But he'd learnt to take everything as it came whenever top secret matters of state were concerned.

"I'm sorry but, who is this?" Said Harriet.

"I'm the Doctor."

"He's the Doctor." Said Rose.

"But what happened to my Doctor?" Said Harriet. "Or is it a title that's passed down from father to son?"

"No." Said the Doctor. "I'm him. I'm literally him. Same man, new face. Well, new everything."

"But you can't be!"

"Harriet Jones. We were trapped in Downing Street together. And the one thing that scared you, more than anything else, wasn't the aliens. Wasn't the war. It was the thought of your mother being on her own."

Harriet blinked in surprise. Something in the way he'd said it made it clear just who he was.

"Did you win the election?" He grinned.

"Landslide majority." She grinned back.

"If I might interrupt." Growled the leader.

"Sorry." The Doctor shook himself off. "Where were we?"

"Who exactly are you?"

"Well... Isn't that the question?"

"I DEMAND TO KNOW WHO YOU ARE!"

"I DON'T KNOW! See, that's the thing. I'm the Doctor, but beyond that, I just don't know. I literally do not know who I am. It's all untested. Am I funny? Am I sarcastic? Sexy? Right old misery? Life and soul? Right handed? Left handed? A gambler? A fighter? A coward? A traitor? A liar? A nervous wreck? I mean, judging by the evidence, I've certainly got a gob. And how am I going to react when I see this..." He danced up to the pedestal where the blood control machine was placed. "A great big threatening button. A great big threatening button which must not be pressed under any circumstances, am I right? Let me guess. It's some sort of control matrix, hmm? Hold on, what's feeding it?" He pulled open a panel on the side. Inside, a collection of cables were running through a pool of red liquid. "And what've we got here?" He dipped his finger in and had a taste. "Blood? Yeah, definitely blood. Human blood. A Positive, with just a dash of iron. Ah, but that means blood control. Blood control! Oh, I haven't seen blood control for years. You're controlling all the A Positives. Which leaves us with a great big stinking problem. Because I really don't know who I am. I don't know when to stop. So if I see a great big threatening button which should never, ever, ever be pressed, then I just want to do this!"

"No!" Shouted several of the humans. But too late. He slammed his hand down on the big red button.

* * *

><p>On buildings, bridges, cliffs and ice boulders all over the world, a third of the population twitched briefly before a blue flash passed over them and the spell was broken. They looked around in confusion as they stepped away from the edge, asking everyone in sight how they'd got there in the first place.<p>

* * *

><p>"You killed them!" Cried Alex.<p>

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "What do you think big fella? Are they all dead?"

The leader had an awkward look about him. "We... Allow them to live."

"Allow? Allow?" The Doctor laughed. You _can't_ kill them! See that's all blood control is, cheep bit of voodoo. Scares the pants off you, but that's as much as it does. It's like hypnotism. You can hypnotise someone to walk like a chicken or sing like Elvis. You can't hypnotise them to death. Survival instinct's too strong." Technically there were ways to hypnotise someone to death, but now wasn't the time to be pedantic.

The leader growled. He always hated it when cornered enemies refused to quake in fear. "Blood control is just one form of conquest! I could summon an armada and take this world by force!"

"Yeah, well, you could, yeah you could do that. But just think of these human beings. Think of their potential. From the day they arrive on this planet, blinking step into the sun. There is more to see than can ever be seen. More to do than can... No wait, that's the Lion King. I reference pop culture now apparently. But the point still stands. Leave this world alone."

"Or what."

"Or..." The Doctor seized a sword from an aide and raised it aloft. "I challenge you!"

Cries of outrage echoed round the hall as the assembled Sycorax stood up and roared. Only the leader remained calm as he took up his own sword and went to stand before him.

"Am I right that the ancient and sacred rules of combat still apply?" The Doctor asked, as he tossed Rose his dressing gown.

The leader nodded. "You stand as this world's champion."

"No idea who I am, but you've summed me up perfectly. So, do you accept the challenge? Or are you just a cranak pel casacree salvak?"

The most horific taunt imaginable in the Sycorax culture made up the leader's mind. "For the planet?"

"For the planet."

The two of them bowed to each other, before raising their swords towards their opponent.

The Doctor swung at the leader, who expertly deflected his sword aside then swung at the Doctor himself. The time lord jumped out the way and ended up stumbling backwards several feet. He then charged forward with renewed vigour. The swords met and flashed back and forth decidedly quickly.

Rose knew very little about fencing, but could see that it was somewhat different from the twirly whirly swordplay you see on TV. Every time they swung at each other, there was a good chance one of them could get sliced through. She could tell who was the better swordsman though, The Doctor was blocking a lot more than the Sycorax was, and seemed to be concentrating really hard to do so.

It wasn't long before the leader decided to try circling the Doctor. His footwork wasn't as precise and he fell over sideways.

"Look out!" Shouted Rose, as the Sycorax raised his sword for the kill.

The Doctor quickly dodged aside. "Thanks for that, I'd never have thought of that!" He sprang to his feet and caught the Sycorax's blade with his own, only for the leader to elbow him and force him back.

The Doctor retreated back down a passageway, as the Sycorax swiped at him several times. "Bit of fresh air?" He said, hitting a button to open up the door.

Cold wind hit them all as they rushed out onto the very hull of the ship. More specifically, a stone ledge, roughly 20 metres wide, jutting out from the side of a cliff, hanging a mile above London.

The Doctor squared himself up and met the Sycorax, blades flashing back and forth. Rose watched in increasing alarm as the leader managed to get in a position to elbow the Doctor once more. This time in the face.

Seeing Rose instinctively rush forward to help him, the Doctor put a hand out "Stay back! You'll invalidate the challenge, and he wins the planet!"

They fought on, right up to the edge of the hull. Finally, one of the Doctor's downward swings caught on a loose stone and this gave the Sycorax the chance to whack him with the hilt of his sword. He tumbled back, landing right on the edge itself. The Sycorax swung again, catching the Doctor's wrist and slicing his hand off. It went tumbling down towards London, along with the sword.

The leader roared in triumph. But the Doctor was only slightly bothered, as he stood up. "You've cut my hand off. But now I know what sort of man I am. I'm lucky. Because quite by chance, I'm still within the first 20 hours of my regeneration cycle. Which means I've got just enough celular energy left to do this..." Flesh formed up at the end of the stump of his arm. It formed into a ball and flattened itself, before sprouting fingers. Some smoothing later and he was left with a fully functioning hand there.

"Witchcraft!" Cried the Sycorax leader.

"Timelord."

"Doctor!" Rose tossed over a sword she'd grabbed off one of the aides.

He grabbed it off the ground. "Guess I'm still the Doctor then."

"No arguments from me." She grinned. Anyone who could leave an all conquering alien war chief stumped is this way was clearly the Doctor she knew.

"You wanna know the best bit." He grinned at the Sycorax. "This new hand? It's a fightin' hand!"

He attacked once more, crossing blades with the leader. But outwitting him had given the Doctor some kind of boost, while simultaneously demoralising the Sycorax. The Doctor was having the best of the fight now.

It wasn't long before the Doctor managed to grab the Sycorax's wrist and disarm him. A final jab to the chest with both swords winded the creature while the Doctor shoved it so that it was laying on its back, with half its torso hanging off the ledge. The Doctor placed the tip of the sword on his neck.

"Kill me than." The Sycorax growled.

The Doctor shook his head "I'll spare your life if you'll take this champion's command: Leave this planet and never return. Do you accept?"

"I accept." The leader replied.

The Doctor pressed the blade closer. "Swear on the blood of your species!"

"I swear."

"Good." The Doctor grinned. "Thanks for that big fella." He stuck the sword in the ground and went to rejoin his companions, who were applauding him thoroughly.

"Bravo!" Shouted Rose, as she rushed up to him with his dressing gown.

"Not bad for a man in his jim jams, eh? Very Arthur Dent. Now there was a nice man... Hold on, what have I got in here?" He pulled something out of the other pocket of the dressing gown. "A satsuma. That friend of your mother's, he does like his snacks, doesn't he? But doesn't that just sum up Christmas. You go through all those presents and right at the end, there's always a stupid little satsuma. I mean who wants a satsuma?"

Unseen by either of them, the Sycorax leader was raising himself off the ground and charging forth once more, determined to redeem his lost honour.

But the Doctor heard him coming. Without looking back. Without breaking stride. He tossed the satsuma at a button labelled _loading ramp._ The ramp immediately dropped away where the leader was standing, sending him tumbling off the edge towards his death.

"No second chances." Said the Doctor. "I'm that sort of a man."

They made their way back into the main hall, where he spoke to the assembled Sycorax lining the floor and the walkways. "By the ancient rites of combat, I forbid you to scavenge here for the rest of time. And when go you back to the stars and tell others of this planet, when you tell them of its riches, it's people, it's potential. When you talk of the Earth, then make sure that you tell them this. It is defended!"

Finally, the group felt a blue glow enveloping them and the Sycorax ship faded around them.


	6. The Journey Continues

**Chapter 6: The Journey Continues**

The group found themselves and the TARDIS in a building site off Glosbourne Road, right round the corner from Rose's flat. Hearing a rumble from above, they all turned upwards and watched as the Sycorax ship lifted itself from its position and climbed upwards away from Earth.

"Yeah, that's right losers!" Mickey called after them.

"Point for the home team!" Laughed Rose.

"It is defended!" Mickey laughed.

As the two of them ran around celebrating, the Doctor made his way up to Harriet Jones.

"My Doctor." She smiled.

"Prime Minister." He smiled back.

Her eyed travelled to the tiny speck that was the retreating spacecraft. "Do you suppose they'll be more of them coming?"

"Oh yes." Said the Doctor. "And not just Sycorax. There's hundreds of alien species out there. You're drawing attention to yourselves. Sending out probes and signals. Letting the aliens know that this planet is open for business. Pretty soon, you'll have lots of them knocking on your door. Better get used to it."

It was hard to read the expression on her face. Something between relieved and concerned.

Before he could ask, Alex beckoned the Prime Minister over, with his finger to his earpiece. At the same time, a voice shouted "Rose!" As Jackie Tyler came running, having spent the last quarter of an hour franticly circling the streets looking for them. "You did it!" She cried as Rose and Mickey ran up to hug her.

"You did it too." Said Rose. "Your tea's what revived him!"

"Tea's just what I needed." The Doctor grinned.

"I said so." Jackie said, with a hint of satisfaction.

"And now look at him." Rose grinned.

Jackie looked him up and down, still stuck on the fact that this was the same man she'd been dealing with for over a year. "But is it really him though?"

"Course it is!"

Jackie spotted something else. "Oh my gosh, it's the bleedin' Prime Minister!"

"Come here you lot." The Doctor grinned, gathering them for a group hug.

To one side, Alex had finished his call. "It's Torchwood. They say they're ready.

Harriet Jones took one look at the merry Doctor. What would he say? She looked back up at the retreating ship, half expecting them to turn and attack, like she'd seen them do once already. It was hard but she made her choice. "Tell them to fire."

The Doctor's party were shaken from their celebration by the sound of something big and powerful powering up. A massive beam shot up from a supposedly abandoned warehouse. Four more shot up from other buildings in London, equispaced apart. They met in the middle and shot up into the stratosphere. They were too far away to hear what happened next, but they saw a massive orange flash that lit up the sky for a few seconds and felt a massive rush of wind that displaced the clouds..

"What was that?" Said Rose. "What happened?"

The Doctor didn't answer, he just marched straight up to Harriet Jones. "That was murder."

"That was defence."

"They were leaving!"

"You said it yourself. They go back to the stars, they bring others. I'm sorry Doctor, you come and go. We have to defend ourselves. I saw it today. Mr Llewellyn and the Major. Murdered right in front of me, while you were sleeping."

"There'll be repercussions."

"We've made an example of them!"

"Britain's golden age." He sneered..

"It comes with a price." Harriet sighed.

Somehow this timeline had got corrupted. Harriet had been introduced to the aliens and come to power much sooner than she should have. That had affected her character, making her more xenophobic and who knew what effect she would have on the human race as a whole. "I gave them the wrong warning. I should have told them to run because the monsters are coming."

"They are the people I represent. I did it on their behalf."

"Then I should have stopped you."

"And what does that make you Doctor? Another alien threat?"

"Don't tempt me. Because I can bring your whole government down with a single word."

Harriet laughed. "You're the most remarkable man I've ever met, but I don't think even you could do that."

"Ok, maybe not one word. Six."

"Stop it."

"Six words."

"You don't frighten me."

"Six."

The two of them stood a few moments longer, staring each other in the eye. Then the Doctor stepped away from her and spoke to Alex. "Don't you think she looks tired?"

He said no more. Didn't even glance at Harriet as he strode away. His companions quickly followed suit.

"What did he say?" Harriet demanded, having heard none of the Doctor's six words.

"Er, nothing." Alex stammered.

"No seriously, what did he say!" She shouted.

"Nothing, really."

"What did you say Doctor? Doctor!" She shouted at his retreating form, but he never looked back. Harriet sighed. "Sorry."

Alex heard a call in his ear. It was one of the high ups, asking where the Prime Minister was and if she was ok. Alex looked at her before he answered. Come to think of it, she did look a bit tired...

* * *

><p>Having discounted the idea of spending this incarnation impersonating Arthur Dent, it was time for the Doctor to choose a new style.<p>

His wardrobe, despite getting less of a look in, was a lot less organised than the womens' wardrobe. Spandex jumpsuits were roughly bundled together with Tudor coats. A Medieval suit of armour was adorned with one of the scarves Madame Nostradamus had made for him.

As so often, it was the scarf box he looked in first, trying on a likely looking one, but quickly tossing it back. So far, only one incarnation had had the right build to pull that scarf off.

He looked over the racks instead, through explorer coats, pirate coats and a suit he'd got off Casanova. He reminded himself to bring the man a chicken at some point.

Finally, he hit on a brown pinstriped suit, along with a white shirt. A fair search later, he found some matching trousers and a light brown longcoat. After trying on some ties, he found a colour he liked and stood in the mirror to admire his work.

He frowned. The image was missing something. He spotted a pair of white converses and grinned.

* * *

><p>His new look sorted, it was time to do something he hadn't done in a long time. Spend Christmas with his family.<p>

He'd timed his arrival perfectly. Jackie had somehow scraped together all the components for a Christmas dinner and was just setting the table as he walked in, to be met by a grin from Rose, who could see her Doctor at full health for the first time.

Mickey too had chosen to stay over to eat. Deciding that there was no point in going back to his flat now. And so all of them sat down for a much merrier Christmas than each had been expecting a couple of days ago.

Some time later, several helpings of turkey and pigs in blankets had cleared up what was left of the post-regeneration sickness. And the Doctor sat back to relax. Rose offered him a cracker, one of the cheep ones which you know you're going to win if you hold a certain end. Rose knew it but the Doctor didn't so she won herself a whistle and a pink paper hat, along with a joke...

"Why did Santa need to see the doctor?"

"He'd opened some unstable wormholes by mistake." The Doctor said. "Oh, or is it low elf esteem?"

"That's better." Rose grinned.

"Here, look at this!" Mickey gestured to the TV they'd had on in the background while they'd been eating and turned up the volume.

Harriet Jones was on the news at 6, attending a press conference. The scrolling info text read _Harriet Jones: Unfit For Office?_ Rose watched as the Doctor pulled some thick rimmed glasses from his pocket and put them on for a better look.

"There is no truth in these accusations." Harriet was insisting. "Now can we please talk about something else?"

"So you don't believe you're unfit for office?" Said a reporter.

"I simply don't know where these roomers are coming from. A vote of no confidence is simply out of the question. There's nothing wrong with my health. I'm fine."

"Are you going to resign?" Said another reporter.

"On today of all days, that is absurd. I'm fine. I look fine. I feel fine."

The Doctor was pleased. It was amazing how quickly an idea can spread once planted.

"But what about all that stuff you said, about her being the architect of Britain's golden age?" Said Rose.

"Oh, history gives more credit than it's due to people in power." The Doctor replied. "Real change is brought by huge socio-economic things, not just a handful of great people. Britain's advancing towards it's golden age all around you. Now that the aliens have been seen off, it should inspire you lot all the more."

Rose caught a hint of doubt in his voice, but decided not to comment.

Jackie, meanwhile, was on the phone once more. "It's Bev, she says get outside 'cos you won't believe it."

Outside, snow was falling all around. People all over the estate were coming out to marvel at the first white Christmas London had seen since 1970. There were even twinkling lights up in the sky.

"Oh wow, it's beautiful!" Said Rose. "What are they, meteors?"

"It's the spaceship, breaking up in the atmosphere." Said the Doctor. "This isn't even snow, it's ash."

"Not so beautiful then."

Nonetheless, it did make for a pretty conclusion to a fairly dark event. "This is a whole new planet Earth. No denying the existence of aliens now. Everyone saw it. Everything's new."

"And what about you?" Said Rose. "What're you doing now?"

"Well... Back to the TARDIS. Same old life."

"On your own?"

"Oh, do you not want to come?"

"I do want to come."

"I just thought... Because I'd changed..."

"No, I thought you wouldn't want me to come... Because you'd changed."

"Of course I want you to come."

"Ok." Rose laughed.

Mickey looked glum. "You're never gonna stay, are you?"

Rose sighed. "There's just so much out there."

"Yeah." Mickey nodded understandingly.

"Well I think you're mad." Said Jackie. "The pair of ya. It's like you go looking for trouble."

"Trouble's just the bit's in between." The Doctor grinned. "It's all out there Jackie. And it's all new to me. All those planets and creatures and stars. I've not seen 'em yet. Not with these eyes. It's all waiting for us. And it is going to be... Fantastic."

He offered Rose a hand, but she hesitated in taking it. "That hand still gives me the creeps." She took it anyway. "So... where are we gonna go first?"

The Doctor thought for a moment then pointed to a random patch of sky. "Perhaps... that way. No, how about... that way?"

Rose adjusted his arm by two degrees. "That way."

"That way?"

"That way." The two of them grinned at each other, contemplating the whole infinity of opportunity laid out before them.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes: I've been writing these novelizations in chronological order up to now. However, I think the stories will be improved if I novelize whichever story I have the best idea of how to each time. Alternatively, if there are any episodes anyone would particularly like to see novelised soon, post a review and I'll be happy to oblige.<strong>

**For now, next time: The School Reunion.**


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